


Lesson Nine; On Disproportional Punishments and the End of the World

by an_evasive_author



Series: Continued Studies of Fatherhood [9]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Childhood, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-28 20:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20784758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_evasive_author/pseuds/an_evasive_author
Summary: When one's offspring causes mischief, there is the matter of punishment and correction to dish out. Naturally, the punishment must fit the crime and as it is, it is Fëanáro's decision to determine the severity of it. Only sane decisions will come of this.





	Lesson Nine; On Disproportional Punishments and the End of the World

Though Nerdanel loved her children with all her heart and soul and most of her sanity, sometimes she wondered what had possessed her to have any at all.

Of course, they looked quite adorable from afar. In small, controlled doses they were downright perfect.

But it had not taken long, just as Nelyafinwe had started talking and having opinions, that she learned that it was the distance that made them such perfect little beings.

Continued exposure, as she had found out, made them less so, though she loved all her sons more than she had words for. Even when they made her want to bite her own statues into pebbles to take the edge off. Having a husband who frequently insisted on acting with all the sense of a child as well did, miraculously, not make things easier.

Such as this time and once more she found herself stomping towards the workshop.

Still covered in feathers, balancing Curufinwë on her hip, no easy feat for she had Moryo jammed under her arm and dragged a complaining Tyelkormo at the wrist, she kicked open the door to her husband's workshop.

“Fëanáro, reign in your sons, this has gone on far too long and you cannot expect me to—_what_ _are you doing?_”

Fëanáro, turned startled, still grasping a piece of filled flatbread, a leaf of spinach stuck to the corner of his mouth. He swallowed once to get the bite of food down. Then he swallowed again for he had not chewed thoroughly and forced it down with dry finality. Then, after trying to recover his voice, he tried to regain his usual confidence. Nerdanel's lightly deranged glare made this quite the difficult undertaking, “Eating lunch?”

Nerdanel shook her head and looked quite tired on top of her exasperation. Perhaps she would have pinched the bridge of her nose, if she had one of her hands free. As it was, she tilted her head back. So many times... “We eat. In the _dining_ room. Like civilised elves should.”

“Orome eats outside in the woods,” Tyelkormo informed them, smiling brightly. He tended to do that when he knew himself to be in hot water.

“Orome is not an elf,” Nerdanel replied curtly and rocked Curufinwë higher against her hip when he slid down as Moryo squirmed around.

A few feathers were shaken lose when Moryo struggled and Fëanáro watched the four before him with a sort of detached sense of awe. It took, he could admit that, considerable skill; Both to get Nerdanel so completely riled up and to balance three of _his_ children like that.

But he still rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The flatbread, he did not put down, it was a point of pride; Also he was still hungry. Others would have called it stubborn and pettish to act like that, but others were not his concern. “What is it now?”

Nerdanel shoved Tyelkormo in front of her, “Tell your father what you did.”

At the prospect of being the messenger, Tyelko cried out, “No fair!” loud enough for both of his parents to pin their ears back at the squeaky screech.

“We glued Kana to his bed,” Moryo said as if casually observing the weather.

Fëanáro blinked and thought it possible that his eyes had glazed over for a moment, “Wh...Um...” he had not much else to offer and this annoyed him. As it stood, this was the most succinct way of putting it.

“That's what I thought as well,” said Nerdanel, cutting him off as she shoved Tyelkormo towards Fëanáro.

She turned to the side so her husband could pluck Curufinwë from her arm and finally set Moryo down as well. She cracked her back, popped her shoulders and turned her attention to Fëanáro.

“Macalaurë is in the middle of melting down and he needs me. And he needs _peace_. So help me, Fëanáro, if I hear One. More. Peep today,” She threatened and stomped to the door. Once there, she turned back. Fëanáro found her rather beautiful, though her gaze was nearly enough to melt steel. Well, if anything it made her all the more alluring for Fëanáro quite enjoyed a challenge. But before he could even begin to formulate a plan how to properly defuse her anger, she vanished.

Oh well. Later then.

Fëanáro allowed himself to cock his head to the side, a strand of raven hair fell over his eye and he brushed it back, “I do hope you have an explanation for this?”

Curufinwë shrugged in the way of his answer.

Nerdanel poked her head back, with her red hair in disarray, face flushed with anger, she looked ready to burst into flames right there.“_Or_. **Else**,” she promised.

All four elves still in the workshop pinned their ears back submissively and Nerdanel believed not one of them.

Quietly, perhaps most of it was the echo that had drilled itself into her skull, she heard Kanafinwë screeching down the hall.

The temptation to call for Nelyafinwe to help deal with this was great but the fact that he had gone off to visit Findekáno made this impossible. She could hardly kick in the door and drag him back.

* * *

They had really gotten it now. Though Fëanáro marvelled at the creativity of it all, he also did not enjoy the fact that Curufinwë apparently started to develop a cruel streak. Corrective measures would need to be taken; The severity of such decisions made apparent before Curufinwë would be utterly unreachable.

A means to teach some responsibility as well as punishment needed to be found and Fëanáro already had a marvellous idea.

He turned around, made towards his supplies and rifled around to gather what he needed. Behind him, all three elves tried to discern just what their father had planned but none dared to approach.

“Boys, observe,” Fëanáro ordered when he plopped the empty ceramic jar in front of them. Three pairs of elfling eyes looked at the jar, at each other, once more to the jar and then finally up to their father.

Fëanáro turned, untied the string that held the burlap closed and held the opening over the jar, tilting it until the contents began pouring into it. A few kernels tumbled off the side and Tyelkormo snatched one up to look better. “Beans?”

“Precisely.” Fëanáro said and put the half-empty bag away after retying the strings. The boys used the time to pull themselves on their hands and up the table to look into the tall container.

“What for?” Moryo asked when they had squabbled around until Tyelko had handed them over so his brothers could examine them themselves. When all three were satisfied that they were, in fact, ordinary beans, they looked upon their father once more.

Fëanáro watched them for a while, pulled up a chair and sat on it so his arms rested crossed on the backrest. “Boys, I do not like getting complaints about you; It cuts into my work and I do not want your mother angry at me."

The three children had nothing to answer to that.

Annoyed, Fëanáro clicked his tongue and cracked his neck; These shows of weakness he allowed himself only in front of his family and even now the vulnerability of being able to be read frightened him. Not that he would ever admit _that_.“You remember what I told you when it comes to these things.”

“Only do it when Naneth is not looking,” the three intoned in long practised routine.

“Very right. But it seems that you have done it now,” said Fëanáro, “You have made a mess and your mother, as she always is, is angry with me.” And Fëanáro, as he had found out, did not like when Nerdanel was mad at him. She often was, for reasons he could not quite comprehend, but minor transgressions, as long as they where not directed at him, did not matter much, all things considered.

He hummed in thought, had he forgotten something? There had to be something, the voice nagging in the back of his mind insisted. Ah, of course, “Also, do not glue your brother to anything, nor anything to your brother.” Proud of his quick thinking, Fëanáro nodded to himself for a job well done.

Three groans told him just how little they cared for that and that Fëanáro had promptly cut off several more plans involving glue.

“He deserved it,” Curufinwë tried, “He said my carving looked stupid.”

“He is your brother,” Fëanáro said and looked very much not amused, “We do not conspire against our brothers. If it was one of Nolofinwe's brood, gladly. Not your brothers.”

Tyelko and Moryo were already cowed and had their ears flattened to their skulls. But Curufinwë, always Curufinwë, had more energy and vigour to argue the point. “He is bigger! And a whiner!”

“He is my blood_,_” Fëanáro snarled suddenly and loomed over his smaller son, all sense of goodwill forgotten as if they had never been there. Fëanáro did not enjoy when someone was careless with his belongings. It did not matter if it was his favourite that did it. “Do not do so again, or you won't be allowed in the workshop. And so, from now on, to help you remember to behave, we will use this.”

"I don't like beans," said Tyelkormo.

"You are not supposed to eat them," replied Fëanáro. "From now one, whenever you do something naugty, I will take beans from out of this jar."  
  
The logical question followed right after. "What happens when it's empty?" asked Moryo.

Fëanáro smiled and booped Moryo's nose, "Then the world ends."

This silenced all assembled. For a moment.

"Who decided that?!" called Curufinwë, outraged.

"I did," said Fëanáro. No one could argue with that. "And do not yell, or I shall demonstrate what happens." His hand hovered threateningly over the jar. It could not be taken back, feeling could not be unhurt.

Curufinwë, a hot blush of anger colouring his face all the way up to his ears, blew up his cheeks. “I'll tell Naneth that you called her a nag,” Curufinwë said, utterly defiant and perhaps slightly suicidal.

“And that would be that,” Fëanáro said, thrust his hand into the jar and lifted an entire handful of beans out of it, much to the horror of the other two.

Tyelkormo yelped, “_Stop it_, you're gonna end the _world_!”

Curufinwë turned and raised an eyebrow, “So? The world has it coming if all it takes to end it are beans.”

“Lack of beans,” Fëanáro threw in from where he sat and observed.

Curufinwë blew a raspberry at his older brother. Scuffling followed, for Tyelkormo, taller, stronger and fully aware of it, tackled him. Curufinwë, smaller, not hesitant when it came to biting and pulling hair, retaliated. Moryo joined in simply to not be left out.

Fëanáro meanwhile wondered where to put the beans he still held and simply tossed them out the window. Not longer his problem, he turned to his sons and pulled them off each other.

“I expect there to be a lesson learned from this,” he called back over his shoulder. For him this mess concluded thusly and he had other things to do. Surely the rest would sort itself out.

He left behind three elves all gathered around the jar, staring at it as if fearing the world would collapse any moment now. It would leave them contemplating their shared mistakes, hopefully.

* * *

When the lights dimmed and silence continued its reign, Nerdanel raised a sceptic eyebrow, twisted her ears around to catch whatever plans the Terrible Three were scheming that would lead to conniption fits and settled again, uneasy. Fëanáro was buried in his blueprints, held a cup of tea and read a book on the side. When he saw his wife's agitation, he smirked. “Nothing to fear, I kept them busy.”

“I am almost hesitant to ask...” Nerdanel muttered darkly and feared the very worst. Sometimes that was the best course of action when it came to Fëanáro.

Fëanáro smiled, a serenely smug expression and made to tease his wife for her pessimistic doubting.

Glasswork shattered somewhere in the distance. There was high-pitched shrieking, two tones of it. Different versions of “The world is ending!” were peppered between demands for Nerdanel and Fëanáro.

Nerdanel sighed. It was a long, tired sound that came from somewhere deep inside of her; Likely the same place where she buried all of her unresolved anger. It usually festered there in peace, only now and again managing to break out. These times where commonly memorialised with another son...

She looked at Fëanáro from behind her hands, her glare cutting through the bone. Fëanáro swallowed dryly and sipped his tea.

* * *

Though at times it seemed impossible, calm returned to the Household of Fëanáro. The Terrible Three had been sent to bed, after so much excitement, had already fallen asleep and so there was hopefully an end to the wanton destruction for now.

Kana, tired out from a day of hysterics, had been nodding off ever since supper, head dropping where he rested against his mother's shoulder. His skin was still reddened where they had scrubbed the glue and feathers off, his hair looked frazzled and his pride was terribly ruffled.

The door opened and Nelyafinwe entered, right shoulder still braced against the polished oak as his hands where full with his own meal. The plate was piled high enough that Nerdanel feared for the carpet as something shifted, likely drenched in sauce. He was already busy chewing on a slice of toasted bread, spread thickly with butter as he kicked the door shut behind him. He had been away and as such, had missed the days events. Nerdanel envied him for a moment before patting the space next to her on the couch.

Fëanáro had been sent to the time-out corner where he sat on a slightly too small chair and had his arms crossed in front of his chest. With his back turned to them, facing the corner, he looked rather pouty and Nerdanel could hear him grumble quietly to himself.

“Oh, did I miss all the fun?” Nelyo asked, ears drooping disappointed before he held a grape out for Kana.

Kana ate it with all the contempt he could muster which was admittedly not all that much. Kana groused and was pulled closer by Nerdanel. She would have done the same with Nelyo but he was currently busy decimating everything edible on his plate and she was likely to lose a finger in the slaughter.

“If that is what you wish to call it...” Nerdanel said as she stroked Kana's hair back behind his drooping ears. He flicked one of them and sighed deeply. Nerdanel, undeterred, combed her fingers through her son's hair, “And your father, in his infinite wisdom, made it worse.”

Fëanáro flicked his ear and turned sharply, “I forbade them to do so again!” he rallied to his own defense.

“Timeout means quiet time!” Nerdanel hissed and pointed at the corner.

Fëanáro gave her an absolutely withering glare but turned back. Nerdanel knew, if he could, Fëanáro would set fire to this corner that held him. And Nerdanel's retaliation would be to sit him into another. Struggle was futile.

Nelyo, inhaling his food at frightening speed, let his eyes flicker between his parents and turned back to his food.

Nerdanel sighed, “When you are done, bring your brother to bed please? I will need some choice words with your father.”

Fëanáro's ear twitched but he did not turn around. Oh, but she could already see his mind churning and could not deny at least some curiosity to see what he planned.

Nelyo nodded between making short process of a chicken leg and ruffled Kana's hair. Kana groused but did not pull away.

With that over, Nerdanel allowed herself a feeling of normalcy. “How was your visit?”

Nelyo, between inhaling his food, smiled and regaled them with his adventures.

* * *

Fëanáro, once he had been allowed to show that he was truly very sorry, snored quietly to himself. Nerdanel could not bring herself to be mad at that, for he had pulled every trick out of his book to apologise.

She was not certain if he truly felt rueful or if he simply wanted her to stop being so terribly livid at him, but the outcome remained the same. She felt the lingering sting of Fëanáro's teeth on her neck and no doubt he still bore streaks of her fingernails in choice places.

She remembered when they had been younger, Fëanáro still an apprentice. How they had hidden in the closet to fool around. Exactly how many times had her father almost walked in on them?

Well, it was not as if it mattered now.

Perhaps she had overreacted just a tad, looking at it in hindsight. And even if not, Fëanáro had been_ very _sorry. How could she remain angry after that? She found that she could not and kissed him between the ears until they twitched and Fëanáro groused.

But Nerdanel was not done and she gathered her clothes, just enough to be decent, to see after her sons.

* * *

Considering the insanity that had preceded them, they looked so peaceful and well-behaved when they slept. She righted Tyelko who had twisted himself so badly in his sheets that he had ended up the wrong way up somehow.

Curufinwë slept, as always, with most of his toys spread around his bed, wooden blocks and pointy figurines just waiting to poke at him once he tried to roll around. She picked some of them out, smoothed out his hair that looked so much like Fëanáro's and pulled his covers higher.

Moryo, curled up into a tiny ball, his brow relaxed from its usual so terribly serious expression, stirred half-heartedly when Nerdanel kissed him but gave no sign of waking.

She felt quite foolish now for ever doubting that her sons were the most perfect ones there ever could be. Had she not married Fëanáro knowing full well of his temper? Why should her sons be any less singular than he?

Kanafinwë's room was empty, though it worried her not. She simply walked down the hall and pushed open Nelyafinwe's door so no light from outside the room could disturb the two elves inside.

Nelyo, being the protective older brother that he was, darling child of hers, had curled around Kanafinwë who slept utterly peaceful now. The glue and the scrubbing forgotten, he yawned quietly and fell still.

Yes, Nerdanel thought, though at times driving her to insanity, she would not change them out for anything else.

With warm, fuzzy thoughts following her, she made her way back towards her own quarters and her husband who was quite amicable once he too was asleep.


End file.
